No. 2 Arizona Basketball routs No. 16 USC to clinch Pac-12 Title

LOS ANGELES, CA – Fresh off a loss to Colorado, No. 2 Arizona Basketball (26-3, 16-2) was all business Tuesday evening, routing USC to clinch the Pac-12 Title. 

Arizona Basketball defeated USC in Los Angeles last year, and on Tuesday, the Wildcats picked up right where they left off, coming away with the win as they dominated the Trojans by a 91-71 final.

Benn Mathurin led all scorers with 19 points, six assists, and five rebounds, meanwhile, sophomore point guard Kerr Kriisa rebounded in a big way, finishing his evening with 18 points, four assists, and four rebounds while shooting 5-13 from the field.

Arizona would also get big contributions from Dalen Terry who finished his day with 11 points, five rebounds, and four assists, while Arizona’s bench scored 23 points behind Justin Kier’s 12 points, and Oumar Ballo’s 11 points respectively.

Unlike Saturday evening, Arizona would come out focused and ready to play in this one, climbing out to a 27-11 lead through the first 9:52 to play, never seemingly looking back at that point.

USC would pull within 12 at 33-21 with 7:07 to play; however, that is the closest they would get as the Wildcats ended the half on an 18-6 run to lead 51-27 at the break.

Building a huge first-half lead, No. 2 Arizona Basketball would cruise in this one, beating the Trojans to clinch Pac-12 Title.

Arizona would begin the second half by outscoring USC 13-7 over the first four minutes of play, giving the Wildcats a 30-point lead, their largest of the game.

USC would climb back in this one a bit, whittling down Arizona’s lead to just 16 with 4:38 to play in the game. Luckily for us, that is the closest they would get as the Wildcats shut down the Trojans’ offensive barrage, closing out the game by outscoring USC 11-7.

Arizona would go on to win by a 91-71 final!

Where does Arizona Basketball go from here?

With the win, Arizona improves to 26-3 (16-2) on the year and clinches the regular-season Pac-12 Title outright with just a handful of games remaining.

The Wildcats will return to action on Thursday evening when they return to the friendly confines of McKale Center to take on Stanford, followed by their regular-season finale on Saturday afternoon against Cal.

Watch the highlights as the Wildcats dismantled the Trojans!